The Earth Is Actually Further Away From The Sun In July

If you're camping and your cold you stand closer to the campfire to get warm. That makes sense right? The transverse should be true as well. If you want to get cooler you step further away from the heat source right? It's funny how that reasoning doesn't really work when you're discussing the temperatures on Earth.

On July 4th of every year, our planet is at it's furthest distance from the sun. On January 3rd of every year, our planet is actually at its closest to the sun. Yet, it's hot as heck in July and usually pretty darn cold in January. Using the campfire analogy from above how can that make sense?

A very simplified explanation of this phenomenon has more to do with angles than it does to do with distance. Our Earth is spinning on a 90-degree axis. The planet has a tilt of approximately 23 degrees. It's that tilt that really provides the reason for the warmer or cooler temperatures in the various seasons.

You also have to remember that our orbit around the sun isn't on a perpendicular plane either. That unique orbit and the tilt of the planet on its axis exposes the northern hemisphere to a more direct effect from the sun during the months of June, July, and August, and the Souther Hemisphere in December, January, and February.